The probability of surviving a heart attack in large part depends on the speed with which appropriate medical care is provided to the person experiencing the heart attack. The response time to a patient suffering a heart attack, can be decreased if those persons who are typically first to arrive at the scene of a medical emergency, including emergency medical technicians (EMTs), firefighters, the police, and even the public (hereinafter collectively referred to as "first responders") are provided with portable defibrillators. A first responder equipped with a portable defibrillator will have a greater likelihood of successfully treating the patient than those who arrive later at the scene. A defibrillator designed for first responder use would therefore improve the overall success rate of treating heart attack patients.
All defibrillators must contain or be connected to an energy source to generate and apply a defibrillation pulse to the patient. For true portability, most portable defibrillators are constructed with a battery pack that is of sufficient capacity to operate the portable defibrillator for a period of time. The battery pack may be either rechargeable or non-rechargeable, depending on the user's preference and the environment in which the defibrillator is to be used. Rechargeable battery packs typically power a defibrillator for a shorter period of time than non-rechargeable battery packs, but can be recharged and reused. In contrast, non-rechargeable battery packs allow the defibrillator to operate for a longer period but require replacement when the battery pack is discharged.
A portable defibrillator is unusable as a medical treatment device without the battery pack or with a battery pack that is discharged. It should therefore be very easy for the first responder to remove and replace the battery pack to ensure that the defibrillator is always available for use. In most situations, changing the battery pack will typically occur during normal testing of the defibrillator in a non-emergency setting. Occasionally, however, a first responder may have to change the battery pack at the site of the emergency. For example, a prior user of the defibrillator could have left a discharged battery pack in the device and that situation is not discovered until treatment is to be initiated on a patient. Alternatively, the battery pack could become fully discharged when the defibrillator is in use, requiring the first responder to replace the battery pack before continuing treatment. To speed the changing of battery packs, it would therefore be desirable to make the changing process as simple and intuitive as possible.
Unfortunately, the replacement of many prior art battery packs in portable defibrillators has not been very straightforward. For example, the correct orientation to insert the battery pack into the portable defibrillator often has not been readily apparent from the shape of the battery pack. Further, to properly connect the battery pack to the defibrillator often has required a precise alignment of sockets in the battery pack with conductive pins in the defibrillator. If the pins were not properly aligned as the battery pack was being inserted into the defibrillator, the user ran the risk of bending and/or breaking the pins. Moreover, prior art battery packs often did not easily latch into the defibrillator. Without a positive and simple latching mechanism to secure the battery pack to the portable defibrillator, a user had to be careful when installing the battery pack to ensure that it was appropriately attached to the device.
All of the above disadvantages of prior art battery packs have combined to make it difficult to replace a battery pack in a portable defibrillator, a task that usually required a user to use both hands when performing the replacement. The present invention is directed to overcoming the foregoing and other disadvantages. More specifically, the present invention is directed to an improved battery and battery well design that helps facilitates easy insertion by a first responder of a battery into a portable defibrillator or charging unit.